The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 63 Conflict
Teng Yuzhao, who studied the history of modern civil wars, believed in his previous life that the lack of unified command was a decisive reason why the Laolongtou Railway Station and the concession were not recaptured in the early stages of the Tianjin Defense War.

If there had been a strong military command organization at that time, and if superior forces had been concentrated to capture the Laolongtou Railway Station and the Concession in one fell swoop before the Allied reinforcements arrived, the hidden dangers in the rear defense could have been completely eliminated, and all efforts could have been made to defend against the enemy outside the territory.

After that, even if it was impossible to recapture Dagukou and Tanggu ports, we could still fight back against the Allied forces that arrived and landed one after another.

Although it is still difficult to save the fate of ultimate failure, the result will definitely be much better than in history. Not only will it cause greater losses to the coalition forces, it may even force the coalition forces to rush to negotiate and resolve the dispute in order to avoid greater losses.

The reason why it would fail in the end and Tianjin would definitely be lost is that even if the Western powers did not want to see Tsarist Russia send troops into the pass, they could give Tsarist Russia some slack and allow the Russian army to capture Shanhaiguan. The Qing court would then be in chaos and unable to fight again.

Teng Yuzhao also felt powerless in the current situation. There was nothing he could do. Not only was his strength too weak, but his qualifications were also too shallow. In a situation where the Qing army was divided into many factions and had no mutual jurisdiction, he could not do anything.

As the governor of a province, Yu Lu was not only ignorant of military affairs, but even if he served as the commander-in-chief, he was just a decoration.

Moreover, even if Yu Lu unified the upper-level command, the lower-level forces would still be unable to cooperate with each other due to the fact that each of them had their own factions, thus leading to each fighting on their own.

This structure of the military forces stationed in Tianjin, which was composed of many factions, no mutual jurisdiction, and was like loose sand, was another important factor in the quick failure of the Tianjin Defense War.

As soon as Nie Shicheng finished speaking, Zhang Decheng on the opposite side said disdainfully, "Yu Zhongtang's order is to start a war with the foreign devils now, but after all you said, you only arranged for the Wuwei Zuo Army and the Boxers to attack the Laolongtou Railway Station, and ignored the foreign devils in the concession. What's the reason for this?"

Although Teng Yuzao admitted that what Zhang Decheng said made sense, he did not think that Zhang Decheng's vision was better than Nie Shicheng's. Teng Yuzao was sure that Zhang Decheng raised his objections because of the grievances between his No. 1 Regiment in the World and Nie Shicheng's Wuwei Front Army.

"presumptuous!"

An angry shout came from behind Nie Shicheng, from a group of Wuwei vanguard army generals wearing almost the same standard military uniforms as Teng Yuzhao. Then a fair-faced young general stood up, glaring at Zhang Decheng with a red face.

Teng Yuzhao recognized this man. He was Hu Dianjia, the commander of Nie Shicheng's Wuwei front army's rear team.

Hu Dianjia was a second-term graduate of the Artillery Department of the Beiyang Military Academy. Teng Yuzhao and Hu Dianjia were very familiar with each other when they were students in the academy.

Hu Dian was born in Nie Shicheng's army and was selected by Nie Shicheng to study at the Military Academy.

What is rare is that Nie Shicheng was one of the few senior generals in the Qing army who attached great importance to Western-style military training. Under Nie Shicheng's cultivation, Hu Dianjia did quite well in the Wuwei Front Army and became the commander of the rear army of five battalions in the Wuwei Front Army very early. He was promoted to garrison commander a few years ago and his rank has been promoted to the fifth rank, which is completely unimaginable in other armies.

You should know that in Nie Shicheng's Wuwei Vanguard Army, the five commanders of the front, rear, left, right and center armies were all generals of the second rank. For example, the commander of the front army Zhou Dianchen and the commander of the center army Feng Yihe were generals. Only Hu Dianjia was a fifth rank official, which shows that Nie Shicheng favored him.

Although Hu Dianjia scolded Zhang Decheng and vented Nie Shicheng's anger, in public and in front of Yu Lu, Nie Shicheng still had to be magnanimous and open-minded. He immediately turned around and shouted, "Xuanqing, don't be rude. Sit down."

Seeing their senior brother being scolded, several leaders behind Zhou Dianchen had already jumped up and started to curse.

Seeing that this important military meeting was about to turn into a scene of quarrels and even verbal abuse, Yu Lu, who was already in a state of panic, could not help but feel angry and mad. With a "slap", Yu Lu slammed the table and shouted angrily, "How dare you! Your superiors are talking, and you are not allowed to participate. Get out of here quickly."

Seeing that Yu Lu was angry, Nie Shicheng was somewhat reluctant but could only wave his hand.

"Xuan Qing, take my guards and go back to the camp and wait."

Nie Shicheng told Hu Dianjia to bring his guards with him, because he was worried about Hu Dianjia's safety. There were more than ten thousand Boxers in the city, and it could be said that there were Boxers everywhere. If Hu Dianjia was not protected, although he would not fall victim to the hands of the world's number one group, he would most likely suffer a great loss. Even as soon as he left the hall, these men of Zhang Decheng might rush up and beat Hu Dianjia up.

Seeing that Nie Shicheng arranged for Hu Dianjia to leave the hall, Zhang Decheng also waved his hand, and several of his leaders also left their seats angrily and walked out of the hall.

Zhang Decheng did not dare to offend Yu Lu, the governor of Zhili. Now Yu Lu was not only the breadwinner of his No. 1 Regiment, but also the one who provided food and clothing to him. Moreover, once he angered Yu Lu and drove the No. 1 Regiment out of Tianjin, his No. 1 Regiment would probably be wiped out.

Looking at the resentful eyes of Zhang Decheng's men, Teng Yuzhao hurriedly stood up, saluted to Yu Lu and said.

"Sir, I found a few cannons in the Military Academy and have just formed an artillery regiment. Since my men lack experience in using artillery, I would like to ask Commander Hu for advice on artillery techniques. Could you please show mercy and allow Commander Hu to stay for a while?"

Yu Lu knew that there were cannons in the Military Academy. Moreover, although Teng Yuzhao's vanguard army was still recruiting soldiers, the corresponding officers and organization had been reported to him. He even reported it to the court, which included some unique organization of the artillery regiment.

Although Yu Lu had a gloomy face, he still said "hmm" softly.

Seeing that Hu Dianjia was left behind, Zhang Decheng also wanted to keep some of his men, but Yu Lu just kept a gloomy face and said nothing. After hesitating for a long time, he still didn't dare to speak. When his men saw that Zhang Decheng did not plead for them, they had to walk out in shame.

Hu Dianjia looked at Teng Yuzhao gratefully and sat back in his seat.

Teng Yuzao kept Hu Dianjia. Not only was Hu Dianjia grateful to Teng Yuzao, but Nie Shicheng also nodded slightly to Teng Yuzao as a token of his gratitude.

Teng Yuzao's actions won the favor of almost all the officers of the Wuwei Front Army. The jealousy or disdain in their eyes looking at Teng Yuzao, the new chief officer, had long disappeared, and the eyes of the Wuwei Front Army officers looking at Teng Yuzao were much softer.

Yu Lu took a deep breath, looked at He Yongsheng and Teng Yuzao, and spoke in a calm tone.

"Who else has anything to say about Gong Ting's strategy?"

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(End of this chapter)